PREPARED BY: Communications Department
DATE: June 20, 2024
SUBJECT: May 15, 2024 - June 14, 2024, Communications Update
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE:
Provide regular marketing and communication updates to the Board of Health.
| SOURCE | May 15 – June 14 | April 15 – May 14 | DIFFERENCE |
|---|---|---|---|
| News Releases, Media Advisories and Statements, or Notices Issued | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Media Requests Received | 12 | 7 | 5 |
| Wechu.org pageviews | 91,369 | 90,478 | 891 |
| YouTube Channel Subscribers | 1,774 | 1,766 | 8 |
| Email Subscribers | 7,092 | 7,111 | -19 |
| Emails Distributed | 14 | 6 | 8 |
| Facebook Fans | 19,241 | 19,220 | 21 |
| Facebook Posts | 81 | 71 | 10 |
| Twitter Followers | 8,654 | 8,645 | 10 |
| Twitter Posts | 83 | 72 | 9 |
| Instagram Followers | 1,671 | 1,667 | 4 |
| Instagram Posts | 41 | 37 | 4 |
| LinkedIn Followers | 1,736 | 1,716 | 20 |
| LinkedIn Posts | 13 | 14 | -1 |
Media Exposure |
87 | 51 | 36 |
Data Notes can be provided upon request.
Media Exposure Overview Graph
Notes: During this timeframe, we experienced one main peak of media exposure on May 16. On this day, a new release was issued that the boil water advisory for Wheatley & Tilbury was lifted. Three other smaller news spikes were related to beach water testing results, a WECOSS alert, and an interview Dr. Aloosh conducted on wastewater surveillance for H5N1.
Website Overview Graph
Blue line represents the current month, teal line represents the previous month.
Notes: From May 15 – June 14, we saw very similar website traffic patterns as the previous month, with slightly higher visits overall.
Social Media Overview Graph
Lighter blue line represents the current month, darker blue line represents the previous month.
Notes: We saw small to moderate increases in followers / fans across all our social media platforms.
Discussion - Beach Water Testing Season Launched
Throughout the summer months, the Environmental Health (EH) Department’s Public Health Inspectors take water samples from the eight public beaches in our region each week.
The season officially started on May 17, 2024. The Communications Department worked with EH to publish a news release informing the public and the media that the first set of results were available.
On a weekly basis, the water results are provided to Communications to be shared through various outreach channels to the public, including social media, emails to general subscribers and the media, our webpage with an interactive map, and a voice recording for the WECHU’s phone tree system. Throughout the season, the beach water testing webpage falls in the top five for web traffic. At this point, the main beach water testing webpage has received approximately 4,700 visits.